Tombay!!!

 "There is no man so blessed that some who stand by his death bed won't hail the occasion with delight." - Marcus Aurelius

 Yesterday I joined club "Tombay".  It's a 50+ year-old thing in the mind that fails to engage when the feet fail to unclip from the pedals when coming to a stop on the bike.  The term "Tombay" is a blend of "Timber" and "Tomber" - (the French verb meaning "to fall").

The rules for entering club "Tombay" are simple.  The fall has to be attributable to brain fade or mechanical failure in which you fail to release your feet from the pedals and a fall ensues.  Bonus points are added for blood, personal injury, and bystanders expressing concern for your well-being.  Extra bonus points if an off-duty nurse renders assistance, or if it is recorded on video.

Below:  Screen grab bonus points from the video.

Anyway, I went on a ride yesterday - which was the only day of my days off that worked, due to various other commitments.  The bike was making a funny whining noise, and it took a while to figure out what the issue was.  

I finally figured out the issue was the rear tire rubbing very lightly on the frame due to misalignment.  I stopped, adjusted the rear wheel, and got back on.  I clipped the left foot onto the bike pedal, and noticed at that time that the trail had a bit of an uphill slope.

"No worries," I thought to myself.  "I can clip in the right foot before stalling out and be on my way."  Well no.  I'm rusty at clipping shoes to bike pedals, and the bike came to a standstill before I got the right shoe clipped in and pedaling.  I wobbled into the gravel and fell over at zero speed onto the left side - which was of course clipped in - so there was no putting down a foot to stop the slow-motion fall.

Fortunately no harm was done to the bike, myself, or my pride.  The fall was slow, and I have no pride left.  Other than that, it was a pretty good ride.  "Other than that, Mrs. Kennedy, did you enjoy the motorcade?" 

Lumber Mill.

I am really enjoying the Strava app on the phone.  It plots your route and tells you how far you've traveled, as well as elevation gain and speeds.  Pretty cool.  On the elevation plot, you can see where I turned around and traveled the same path in reverse at the 11 mile point.  Anyway, a pretty good ride.